Good Things Come to Those Who Plan Ahead

Having been used to Dublin’s ubiquitous WI-FI connection, I was flabbergasted to find how hard it is to find decent Internet during my travel in Spain and Italy. So I’m finally glad to be able to write this blog post from …Vietnam my final holiday destination.

If there’s one thing I learnt through last year, it was that I could never really plan for anything. I was a planning enthusiast. I would spend countless hours drawing up Excel sheets and action timelines, planning to the tiniest details. I usually overestimate my own capability and underestimate the externalities. Often, I did not get to achieve the goals I set out to be, but arrived somewhere in between. While this has worked out okay in the past, there was unsatisfaction inside me; a feeling that I never reach my full potential. I was not happy.

Then last year came and brought me better things than I’d even hoped for. Of course I was delighted but also worried at the same time whether my luck would run out. Then I realized that these good things, despite not being what I originally planned for, were the culminations of my continuous efforts for a long time.

While the virtue of staying organised and committed remains, I’ve learnt I can never be certain in this increasingly competitive climate. However, by staying prepared, I could hope to be ready to grasp the opportunities when they come.


Cong Vu

Full-time MBA 2014

Vietnam

MBA Welcome Dinner.

The whirlwind of the UCD Smurfit MBA life kick started right from the first day of classes, so having a night off just to get to know the faculty, staff, everybody, and their loved ones outside of the classrooms were quite refreshing.

The night started off with a drinks reception in which full-time MBA and EMBA students mingled and shared our experiences so far into the programs.  We, the FTMBA students, quickly found out that our schedule faded compared to the hectic work-study-family balancing act of EMBAs.

Moving forward to the dinner, watching a video of the very first alumni talking about their time at UCD Smurfit 50 years ago made us appreciate better the rich history and excellent tradition of the school.

As a mini-representation of how accessible and diversified the program is, half of my table was international students from the US, Malaysia, China and Vietnam, the rest consists of Irish students and even a professor. The multitude of differences between nationalities, age, background and experiences made for an amazing sharing session. Ciaran and Orla even made sure to visit all tables and ensure we all had a good time.

To cap off the night, we went down to the Dark Horse, a local watering hole, and celebrated Pete’s birthday. Congratulation, Pete!


Cong VU,

FT MBA 2014.